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Gvt approves bread price increase

news263

Nov 01, 12:39 pm

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The price of bread is set to marginally rise to $1,40 with effect from tomorrow, after Government moved in to provide more assistance to the baking industry.Last week, bakers had proposed to increase the price of bread to $2,20 from $1,10 to defray what they claimed were unsustainable operational costs. Government rejected the increase as it came amid a wave of price madness and commodity shortages across all sectors of the economy.The National Bakers Association of Zimbabwe (NBAZ) today said after realising that bread had become the most affordable staple for Zimbabweans, they had “made every effort to keep the bread price affordable”.“We therefore notify the public that the price of a standard loaf should not exceed $1,30 and $1,40 to the wholesale and consumers respectively, flour being at a maximum price of $36,50 per 50kg bag.

“This watered down increase has been arrived at following the Government’s intervention through the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe that has committed to avail to the bakery industry at least 80 percent of its monthly foreign currency requirements from a current maximum of 35 percent allocation,” reads the NBAZ statement.Industry and Commerce Minister Mangaliso Ndlovu confirmed that Government had agreed to increase its support to bakers.“They really did not need our permission to do that (increase the price), but they notified us. They initially wanted to be $2,20 (but) then we had to come up with ways of mitigating that and there is now more assistance that they are getting which could not be 100 percent really, to keep the prices where they were.

“So they told us that with the assistance and having looked at their costs and having looked at everything, the wholesale price from the manufacturers will be $1,30 and from the retailers it will be $1,40,” said Minster Ndlovu.